In The Desert
by The Emmanator
Summary: [AU] Three different thieves with one common goal. The Shikon Diamond held at Kikyou Shinidamachuu’s museum. And they’ll trick anybody to get it. .::COMPLETE::.
1. Chapter 1: Old Flames

A/N: Yeah, new story, but please don't ask. I was watching the preview to some random movie and was inspired. Oh yeah baby.

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In The Desert

Chapter 1: Old Flames

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She was looking into her cosmetic mirror, but not to check her already impeccable makeup, no, she was staring over her shoulder at the man a few feet down from her. His coat touched the floor and a tattoo was just visible around his wrist, a cigarette at his mouth.

He was looking over his shoulder too. The long black hair obscured her face, but in the mirror she was holding he caught sight of dark teal eyes.

She closed the mirror with a snap and started for the stairs that led from the subway up to the street and as she predicted, the second she turned to walk into the street she was found in the way of the taller male.

"Fancy seeing you here. I thought you got stuck in jail," she said, taking a step back.

"Yah, I did," he retorted, adding, "But I got out a few months later. You didn't have very much faith in my abilities, did you Tsubaki?"

"I didn't doubt that you were good, I didn't trust you," she pointed out as they started walking.

"And you stuck around…why?" he asked.

Tsubaki laughed. "Honestly? The sex was good," she answered. "And besides, I was getting money. So, why are you here in Musashi anyway, Renkotsu?" 

Renkotsu looked up at the building they had just walked past. "The Shikon Diamond. The old Taiyija family from one town over gave it to Kikyou Shinidamachuu, and she has it in her museum."

"Great minds think alike then," Tsubaki agreed. "Where're you staying?"

"I've got somewhere."

She nodded. "I'm staying with a friend, if I'm right, the place is down this way, I'm gonna go," she said, turning off a side road and disappearing into the late afternoon crowd that was present in this big city.

Renkotsu shrugged and kept walking, his hand going in his pocket to pull out a rectangular pack. He flipped the lid and pulled a cigarette out, fishing around further in his pocket to find his lighter. After he found it, the lid was flipped up to reveal a dancing flame.

He then pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, unfolding it casually, and looking at the address written on it in a neat, tilting writing. Quickly storing the address in his head, he walked on.

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Tsubaki threw her bag down at the door and walked into the main room. "Hey Naraku," she greeted the man sitting in the chair when she saw him.

"What took you so long to get here?" he asked her.

She slid down into his lap, throwing her legs over one of the armrests of the chair and wrapping her arms around his neck. "I just ran into an ex, that's all. Seems he came on the same lead we did," she explained, pressing her lips against his neck.

"An ex, oh? Which one?" he asked her suspiciously.

Tsubaki laughed. "Renkotsu."

Naraku smirked lightly. "I thought he was in prison," he noted, playing with a strand of Tsubaki's hair.

"Apparently he got let out," she retorted. "He looks the same though, except he got a tattoo," she added, playing with the collar of her boyfriend's shirt.

Naraku furrowed his eyebrows, plucking the hair from the woman's head violently. "Stop talking about him like you're going to run back to him," he demanded. "Were you in love with him or something?"

Tsubaki rolled her eyes, getting up from Naraku's lap and glaring. "I told you. I didn't love the guy, but…the sex was great. Not as good as you though," she told him, the last lie falling with it fluently.

The tall man nodded, still looking a bit suspicious. "So he's here to try and get the Diamond too?" he asked. Then his eyes lightened. "I have an idea, why don't you try to…get some information that Renkotsu may have…"

Tsubaki looked suspicious. "And I get what out of this?" she asked.

Naraku stood up, his arm wrapping smoothly around Tsubaki's waist and pressing her against him. "Once I get the diamond, I can give you everything you could ever want, remember?" he muttered in her ear. "I don't even care if you fuck the guy so we can get it…."

Tsubaki looked up into his face, pursing her lips, unsure whether to believe the man holding her or not.

He tutted under his breath, "Don't you believe me, beautiful? I can give you everything you wanted- with the help of the Shikon Diamond, I promise."

But that wasn't really his plan. He wanted to steal the diamond for himself; the woman was just a pawn, skilled at stealing where he wasn't as skilled. He didn't trust her not to sleep around, not to leave him for the next powerful man she found. But for right now, she would have to do.

Tsubaki smirked to herself when he finally let her go and she turned away. The diamond would be hers; she would cash it in to find the secrets for eternal beauty. Naraku was her backer, he had money, not tons of it, but he had some. As soon as she got that diamond, well, who knows where she'd go from there….

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Renkotsu knocked on the door, and then a note fell from some cheesy door decoration at about eye-level. He picked it up and opened it. In the same, tilted, neat, curvy handwriting there was a note.

'_Renkotsu, _

_If you get this, you've found my apartment and got here before I could get back. I'm at work as you're reading this…. I left an extra key under the doormat for you so you could get in and get settled. Plenty of food lying around, if you're hungry. I'll call to see that you've got in before I leave work. See you this evening. _

_Suikotsu.'_

Renkotsu sighed, almost longing for the house he and Ginkotsu shared back in Ushitora, but business called and Suikotsu was the only one he knew that lived in this town.

Why you slapped a town on the edge of a desert was beyond him, and why anyone would live there is even farther out of his grasp. He pulled the key out from under the mat and opened the door.

The apartment wasn't huge, two bedrooms, a bathroom and a living room/kitchen, a couple of chairs, a table, just things. He shut the door behind him and sat down with a sigh, waiting for the time to pass. Finally, he grew bored with sitting, though the silence was refreshing from the dull mumble of the subway and streets.

So he picked up his cell phone and dialed the number Suikotsu had left as his own cell number. "Suikotsu, I'm at your apartment, but I'm going for a walk," he said as soon as the voice came through. "I'll lock the door and have the key with me, and I wont be long," he added. "Later."

He hung up, sticking the phone back in his pocket and getting up to leave the room. The door clicking and locking behind him, he started off. He walked in the direction of the museum he would be robbing when he felt the time was right, maybe a week from then.

And who would be outside the doors but Tsubaki, of course.

"Fancy meeting you here," she said with her back to him.

"Somehow coincidence is doubtable in this situation," he retorted calmly. "What do you want exactly?"

She turned around, grabbing his arm and pulling him around to face her, a determined smirk on her face. "I want you," she said, trying to sound convincing and convince herself it was a lie at the same time. "I want you back, we could do great things…" she muttered, a long crimson-painted nail running up his chest.

He scoffed, starting back down the heavy steps of the museum. "Right, and this isn't some plan of yours just to get my information about the diamond?" 

She pouted. "Oh…you caught me, but remember, it wasn't my idea, it was my boyfriend Naraku's," she told him. "I didn't want any part in it."

Renkotsu raised an eyebrow, rubbing his temples. "So Naraku's trying to get this thing too? Oh, more competition than I would hoped for. Maybe I'll pay Naraku a little visit. Where's he staying?" he asked.

"That's information I can't pass around," she said, walking away.

He thought for a second. Then smirked. Of course, when you can't get the information out of someone…

…You look them up in a phonebook.

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Renkotsu flitted through the phonebook impatiently. "Shirozaru…" he muttered, scanning for the name in question. And finally, he found it. "187 Saru Way, #136," he read off, grabbing a scrap of paper and scribbling down the address and phone number.

He would talk to Naraku later.

First, he had to make a plan.

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"He figured me out!" Tsubaki exclaimed, crossing her arms in defiance. "I didn't tell him anything!"

Naraku glared. "Go stay with someone else while I figure out what I'm going to do. If he finds out where I am he's going to come get me. And only one of us can stay, and I won't be leaving, I can tell you that."

She huffed, grabbing her still unpacked bag and stomping out. When she was out of the apartment she pulled out her cell phone, and then she had a plan. A good plan too.

"Kikyou?" she asked softly through the phone. "Hey, I need somewhere to stay," she muttered. "You'll let me? Thank you! I'll be at the orphanage in a little while, I'll have to take the bus, I don't have a car."

She hung up and laughed. "Sucker…"

But back in the apartment, Naraku was more than a little troubled. "I can't use her now, she's too open to be found out. What AM I going to do?" he asked himself, pacing slightly. Then the phone rang.

He answered it, smirking. "Hello?"

"Naraku, is she gone?" the voice on the other end asked with a hint of impatience, adding quickly, "She can't be there."

"She isn't here. Are you going to come over?" he asked, trying to sound surprised.

There was a slight laugh on the other end. "Maybe I will, seems you and your fuck buddy really are desperate… I'll see you when I see you. Don't wait up for me."

Naraku hung up with a final "ok" and sat down. Not expecting much of anything, still formulating his plan of attack in his mind.

And as soon as he got it all worked out; exactly what he would do, whom he would have to trick and everything in between, there was a knock on the door. He smirked and got up to answer it. He pulled it open and tried to make his eyes widen in shock.

"Nice to see you," he mocked, letting his guest in. "Now what was it you needed?"

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A/N: I hope that there was some suspense involved there. I really hope there was…XD!


	2. Chapter 2: The Spark

Gomen-ne for the flashback, I like them…

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In The Desert

Chapter 2: The Spark

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"Heh. You know what I need Naraku," he replied as he sat down. "Why are you here? Hauling Tsubaki around, nonetheless."

"Funny you should ask. I've been living here for a few years now. I went back to your old town and everything had changed. The Kotsu's were scattered, which surprised me. The crime scene had grown out of control. Tsubaki had nowhere better to go anyway, so I brought her back with me," Naraku explained.

"I couldn't help the fact that we imploded after the kids died, and how I got thrown in prison, or that Suikotsu bailed. When I got out, the town was hell. I heard about the diamond and came here. I've got no where else to go, really, and I need the money," Renkotsu retorted.

"It was odd, how the strong leader of the Shichinin-tai was dead…how did that happen again?" Naraku asked slyly. "It was the Taiyoukai boy wasn't it? And wasn't that other punk dead as well? Eh, Renkotsu?"

Renkotsu narrowed his eyes. "Fuck you, Naraku. My little brother _died, _okay? So fuck you," he snapped, with an even tone.

"Why did you come here?" Naraku asked.

"What do you know?" Renkotsu retorted.

Naraku smirked. "And why should I tell you? I don't get a favor, do I?"

Renkotsu stood, turning for the door. "Last time I did you a favor, I regretted it in far too many ways."

"But, you do want to know everything I know don't you? Want to be on a level playing field?" Naraku asked him, a devious smirk playing on his features.

Renkotsu sat back down. "What do you want for it?"

"You know what I want, Renkotsu. The question is…what do you want?"

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Suikotsu sighed. Renkotsu was usually pretty punctual, and he had said a _walk. _If he had been gone as long as Suikotsu thought, he could be halfway across the Western Desert by now. The phone rang, and he swept his eyes over the Caller ID. Smiling, he picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Suikotsu, I have to cancel for tonight; I have an unexpected guest. Is tomorrow okay for you?" the cool female voice came on the other end.

"It's fine, Kikyou. Now I can catch up on the important things my job makes me neglect, like sleep, for instance. And something other than Chinese takeout."

There was a short laugh. "Okay, tomorrow at 8; it won't be Chinese," Kikyou told him. "I have to go, I have another call. See you tomorrow."

There was a click and silence on the other end meant she had hung up. He set the phone back on it receiver and jumped slightly when the door opened. Turning around, his eyes found Renkotsu.

"Hey…" the man greeted Suikotsu. "I'm going to sleep," he added before walking into the second bedroom that Suikotsu had just pointed to.

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Tsubaki sighed, resting her head on her knees as she cast her eyes upward at her old college roommate. "Thanks Kikyou."

Kikyou nodded. "It wasn't a problem, just don't start freeloading."

Tsubaki smiled humorlessly. "Right, I'll be out of your hair in a day or two okay?" she remarked with a roll of her eyes, adding: "Oh, and I need a job."

The taller woman furrowed her brows. "There, I don't know if I can help you," she said. "What do you want for dinner? I cant cook, but I could call in for a pizza…"

"That sounds fine," Tsubaki answered.

Kikyou nodded and left the room as Tsubaki let her nails tangle in the blanket and her knees went limp, causing her to fall back on the bed.

Grabbing her purse from the table beside the bed she opened it up and pulled out her wallet, looking at the picture in front she smiled slightly. "So you're here too, Renkotsu?" she asked the picture that was stuck there.

It wasn't a very good picture. He always avoided cameras, and this was one where his hand was only half on the lens so she got enough of his face to work.

Usually she burned her ex-boyfriend's pictures. But Renkotsu was… different. He was a crabby, stiff, huffy bastard for someone so young. He'd lived enough of a life to warrant it, she supposed, though he was what… 24 now?

It'd been a long time ago, but she still remembered it like it had happened an hour ago, that heavyhearted feeling she had gotten when the doorbell rang.

_He never used the doorbell…_

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_The doorbell rang and Tsubaki looked up from the thick textbook in slight annoyance. She walked up and looked out the peephole as the doorbell rang again. It was Renkotsu…_

_…He never used the doorbell._

_She opened the door and he walked in, looking a little more grim than usual. Hesitantly, she asked, "Renkotsu…?"_

_He looked disinterested as he sat down, leaning back against the couch as he normally did. "They're dead…" _

_"What? Who?" she asked in confusion._

_He gulped, running a hand over his face in impatience. "Jakotsu…Bankotsu, everyone. Except Suikotsu, and me, but I don't know what happened to him. His other half completely took over and ran. He might be dead… he might be alive. But they're gone."_

_Tsubaki put a hand over her mouth. "All of them? All five of them?" _

_He stood, turning to leave. "I'll go. I know how your roommate feels about me."_

_She got up and walked over to the door, cutting him off. "…Call me if you want to," she told him. "I know you won't…" _

_"I need to leave. Move," Renkotsu said. _

_She growled a little and moved from the door. "Fine…"_

_"I'll talk to you later." _

_And he slammed the door behind him. _

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She shook her head. "Its stupid to think about it. That's the past," she demanded of herself. She sat in silence for a few minutes before Kikyou knocked on the wall beside her open door, a quirk that seemed to have exceeded college.

"The pizza is here, if you want some," she told Tsubaki.

Tsubaki nodded, getting up and shaking the loose strands of hair from her face she walked into the kitchen where, sitting on the table, was a large white box.

"I thought about you needing a job, and I need a helper at the museum during the week, if you're interested in that," Kikyou remarked. "It doesn't pay much."

Tsubaki smirked. Another block of plan falling into place. A job at the museum that she wanted to rob? Why would she turn such a thing down?

"That'll be okay I guess…" she muttered.

Kikyou nodded. "You can work the front desk then," she told her with a light smirk.

And the shorter woman groaned silently. She hated desk jobs.

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A/N: There, an update, turns out this fic is not only going to be hella confusing its gonna kinda short…yay!


	3. Chapter 3: Dampening The Flame

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In The Desert

Chapter 3: Dampening the Flame

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Renkotsu rolled over, slamming his hand down on the buzzing alarm clock. He sat up, rubbing his eyes.

_'Why was I dreaming about that? I never dream anymore. Not since I was a kid, and why about then?' _he thought, recalling the flash of images that had passed through his mind that night. _'Naraku killed all of the only family I had. Family; I guess that's what they were. It's been two years and I think of them that way more and more now that they're gone. And Naraku's with Tsubaki, the same Tsubaki I was with when…Naraku killed them, the same Naraku…' _his thoughts trailed off maliciously. He didn't want to keep thinking about back then, about the past.

Because back then he had been stupid, young and stupid. 22 years old, on top of the world maybe? Big headed? Hot girlfriend and plenty of spare cash, dealing drugs to preteen rich kids with too much pocket change and a desire to conform? What had made it different from then and now for him? The fact that now he was broke, living with one of his old gang members that belonged in a mental institution and looking to steal one of the most priceless artifacts on the planet today?

Maybe his life had just become too weird for him to understand.

He stood up, dressed quickly and walked out of his room. Suikotsu was already in the kitchen, sitting at the small table opening to bright orange bottle with a white cap. After he pulled two pills from the bottle and set it back down on the table, Renkotsu picked it back up and read it aloud. "After every meal?"

"One set is for before meals, one's for after them," Suikotsu explained with a smile.

That was like Suikotsu in this mind; he'd take you in and, if he trusted you enough, tell you anything you wanted to know. He was a nice guy all around.

"I'm going by the museum today, if you want to come," Suikotsu said, popping the two yellow pills into his mouth and taking a swing from a bottle of water.

"Why are you going?" Renkotsu asked dully, but he knew he'd say yes. He needed to check out what he was up against.

"My girlfriend is the owner of the place," Suikotsu explained. "And since I don't work on the weekends, I go visit her during her shift. If you don't want to hang around during that kind of stuff, I understand," he added shrugging.

"No, I'll go. Got nothing better to do," Renkotsu reasoned.

Suikotsu nodded. "You hungry or need a shower or anything before I decide to run off?" he asked standing up.

Renkotsu shook his head. "Cold much?"

"It's never cold here. Does 'the middle of a desert' tell you anything?" Suikotsu asked.

"I'm used to living in the mountains," he retorted as they headed out the door, down the winding steps, and out to Suikotsu's old silver car. It barely ran but he didn't drive a lot…so it didn't matter much.

They drove out and parked, heading up the tall marble steps of the museum. They walked in, stopping at the front desk and paying the three dollars to get in, and Renkotsu had to resist doing a double take.

When Suikotsu caught the glance of a tall, slim, black-haired woman, Renkotsu walked back to the front desk, leaning on it and raising an eyebrow.

"We really have to stop meeting like this," he muttered, sounding nonchalant.

The woman ran a hand through her thick black hair and smirked. "Because if we keep meeting in public there's nothing we can do right?" she challenged, her hand casually brushing his.

"Don't flatter yourself, Tsubaki. Besides, aren't you with Naraku?" he asked her, drawing his hand away and narrowing his eyes.

"He threw me out of the apartment, and besides…he said it himself, he doesn't care who I sleep with. And I wouldn't consider myself 'with' anyone at this point in my youth," she replied smoothly.

"You considered yourself 'with' me up until two years ago, maybe even less," he pointed out critically.

"And in one day, five years of 'being with you' was gone and you were in prison. I can't waste my beauty waiting on someone who won't even want me when he comes back," she argued.

He looked away, his eyes narrowing further. "I would've still wanted you…" he mumbled indistinguishably.

She had heard him, no matter how low he had tried to keep his voice. "You don't now, so why would've you back then?" she asked, getting annoyed.

"Now you're just lying Tsubaki," he retorted, turning back to her, while a smirk grew on the inside. His plan was all falling into place. If he played his cards right everything would work out in the end. "When does your shift end?"

She looked at her watch. "I'm out for lunch in ten minutes actually."

Renkotsu knew what he had to do. She worked at the museum, so she had to have a key to the museum on her. Now it was getting it that would be the challenge.

Tsubaki smirked to herself, pulling a small mirror out of her purse and checking her makeup again. She was getting a double treat today, she knew it. She would wring every bit of information she could out of Renkotsu, and feel like, maybe for a minute, everything was back to the way they were when they had been in college.

When it was slightly normal.

When arson, acts considered religious terrorism, drug dealing, gangs and sex were all normal to her, the wholesome preacher's daughter. Dating a criminal, soon to become a criminal with an academic scholarship to any school she wanted.

Maybe that's what got her so egotistical. From the day she set foot in her high school she knew she was pretty, smart, and could get any guy she wanted.

But not the prettiest, not the smartest, and she didn't get the most popular hot guys.

Kikyou was the prettiest, Kikyou was the smartest, and Kikyou was dating the lacrosse-star-rich-boy Inuyasha Taiyoukai.

And how Tsubaki had hated her for that, and envied all that she had. But they were still what one would consider friends. For the first three years of her high school life and maybe even beyond that, she had looked to make herself better than Kikyou.

And what had it gotten her? A scar across her right eye and even more resentment.

But her senior year, Kikyou was left heartbroken and untrusting of men, and Tsubaki, the _virtuous_ preacher's daughter, met her first taste of the truly dark side of life.

He had just started at the public high school after a while at some kind of reformatory. His brother was a freshman. She met him while he was skipping class to have a smoke.

She started talking to him, though he didn't open up to her. Hell, seven years later and he still hadn't opened up. At first, they had become 'acquaintances' the kind of people you nodded to in the hall when your hands were too full to wave. Then, after about a week, he invited her to a party.

And that was, despite Tsubaki's slight embarrassment to admit it, the first time she had ever had sex.

Even seven years later she still wonders how exactly that worked out, monogamous without commitment. But it did, for a long time. Then he went to jail and she didn't want to be alone so she ran around with tons of other guys.

"Hey, Tsubaki, snap out of it," someone remarked harshly, delivering her from her thoughts.

She shook her head and looked at the clock. "Okay, let me stop reminiscing. Lunch time," she said standing up, grabbing her purse as she started for the door.

"Tsubaki," someone called across the long main room.

She turned and Kikyou walked over, handing her a small key. "It's the key to the museum, in case something comes up," she informed her. "See you when you get back from lunch…" she added, eyeing Renkotsu warily as she turned back around, walking away in a brisk manner.

Tsubaki pocketed the key and they left, as soon as they were down the steps she turned to him and smirked. "Your place or mine?"

"Where I'm staying is a closer walk," he pointed out. "Come on."

They walked down the busy sidewalk and turning on a side road, entering Suikotsu's apartment building they hurried up the stairs, he pulled a key out and unlocked the door.

"I've waited a long time," she told him testily.

"All in good time, Tsubaki," he retorted

He held the door open in a mock gentlemanly manner. She walked inside and was almost immediately grabbed by Renkotsu. He moved her hair and kissed the nape of her neck. She giggled and turned, pressing her lips against his. Renkotsu nibbled her bottom lip and dipped her, pushing her back into his room and falling on the bed at the same time.

"You never change, Renkotsu," Tsubaki said and flipped him over. They struggled for a moment, both fighting to be on top.

"Persistent bitch," Renkotsu said as he fell on his back. Tsubaki held him down.

"Shut up and fuck me," She growled.

"Gladly," He smirked and flipped her over again. He straddled her waist and unzipped his pants. His hand inconspicuously reached into one of her pockets to slip out a key.

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Tsubaki straightened her hair in the mirror before walking out of the apartment. She had needed that, she felt…better. Happy, even. Smoothing her wrinkled shirt she headed back towards the museum. Their romp hadn't lasted long; she had to cut short to get back to work on time. He said he'd be back up there to meet with Suikotsu after she could get back.

"We can't go in together, it'd look suspicious."

She had to agree with him, finally get back to her place at the front desk as the other girl…they hadn't really met. Tsubaki had only heard her mentioned once as a young woman named 'Enju'.

He came back and walked around, avoiding eye contact and making something like small talk with Suikotsu. Then they left, and Tsubaki played with her nails and make-up. Her shift ended and she left with Kikyou, but when they got home and she went to empty her pockets and noticed something missing.

Her eyes narrowed and her mouth opened a little in shock. The bastard! "He used me…" she snapped under her breath. "I'll kill that little bastard…"

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	4. Chapter 4: In The Wildfire

Sorry for the wait!

* * *

In The Desert

Chapter 4: In The Wildfire

* * *

"You tricked me!" Tsubaki snapped angrily.

She followed the key with her eyes as Renkotsu tossed it up idly and caught it again.

"Yeah, I did," he replied calmly.

"You're such a bastard…" she growled, pulling up her pant leg and returning a gun to his eye level.

He nodded. "I mean, what did you expect Tsubaki? Just because it's you I was going to let you get ahead of me? Think of this as a race; a long, three-man race where you have to do anything to win, and at the end someone _will_ die. And if you don't want it to be you, you'll put the gun down."

Lowering the gun hesitantly, she glared. "Who's dying?"

He sat down. "My money's on Naraku, but I'm just as likely."

Raising an eyebrow, she lowered herself into the seat across from him. "Why do you say that?" she asked suspiciously.

He put his hands on her knees and leaned forward. "Naraku wouldn't have the balls to kill you. He wants me dead, not you; you're just a pawn in a very, very sick chess game. Everyone dies sometime; now might just be mine."

She looked away. '_You can't die you asshole!' _she thought angrily. "Well, after Naraku kills you, what if he comes after me?"

"You can take care of yourself," he said leaning back and staring at the ceiling.

She felt like screaming. Didn't he get it?

"Should I get the popcorn?" Naraku asked, sitting down in the remaining spot with an eerie grin.

"What are you doing here!"

He thought for a second. "Well, I thought I'd find you two here. And I decided we need to make a few things clear about this job."

"And what would those be?"

"One, the Diamond will be mine. If either of you manages to get it you will be shot. And the Diamond will be taken from your cold, dead hands. Two, whoever manages to survive this can return to our old town with me."

"Bullshit, Naraku!" Renkotsu retorted harshly.

"Did you know that humans are innately flawed beings? They let petty emotions get in their way. Like your brother, Renkotsu. He let something like love blind him, and look where he ended up! The same happened to Bankotsu. The others, well, they were just stupid. But I never doubted you. I knew you'd be the sole survivor."

"Suikotsu is still alive…" Renkotsu muttered.

"But he barely remembers being one of you, so he doesn't count, does he?" Naraku corrected. "See, those others…they were worthless compared to you…you always kept your head about everything…not like that Jakotsu…"

"Shut up about him!"

"I struck a nerve, did I? Oh, Tsubaki…did Renkotsu ever tell you why he went to prison?"

She shook her head and narrowed her eyes fleetingly.

"Well, they thought he killed his brother…which he did, but they couldn't prove it. So they got him for a few other charges instead…"

"I didn't kill him. Now both of you, get out," Renkotsu demanded coldly.

"You did kill him. And I was about to leave anyway. I'll be seeing you," he said with a mocking bow as he left.

Renkotsu started to walk into his own room, but was stopped by a strong grip on his arm.

"What?"

"Was he telling the truth? Did you really kill Jakotsu?" Tsubaki asked him callously.

"Yes."

He pulled his arm from her grip. "Leave Tsubaki," he told her sharply.

She shook her head. "I'll leave when I want to. You're going to tell me something, everything. You close yourself off too much. I need to know!" she snapped.

"What? Why do you want to know about my dead brother? What do you need to know? Why? How? When? I'll tell you! Just get the hell out of my life if I do!"

Tsubaki recoiled a little. He was really angry. He seemed willing to honestly tell her anything though, and maybe she could take advantage of that. "…Do you need me?"

"Yes, well, I did. Is that all you wanted to ask?"

She shook her head. "Do…did you ever love me?"

"You're pushing it, Tsubaki. Leave."

"Answer the question!"

"I don't _need _anybody I don't _trust _anybody and I sure as hell didn't love _you!" _

"So fine I'll leave," she told him shortly, leaving the apartment briskly. "You're a filthy liar, Renkotsu Akimori," she muttered under her breath.

* * *

Naraku paced around the small apartment, the plans sliding through his mind and into place. Renkotsu would go tonight, and so would Tsubaki…and so would he.

Only two will live. And if he had anything to do with it, he wouldn't be the one dead.

Tonight was the night.

…But who's night was it?

* * *

A/N: I'm going to apologize to my lovely beta, Ebony (Fantastical Queen Ebony Black, go read her fics, they rock) for taking so damn long. I hope this was a good tension-building chapter. 


	5. Chapter 5: Fire Storm

A/N: Closing in on the end, we are? Maybe. I'll never tell, of course.

* * *

In The Desert 

Chapter 5: Fire Storm

* * *

Tsubaki quietly went into her room, watching the darkening sky carefully, counting under her breath until Kikyou should be home. The door swung open just as the 'one' escaped her throat. 

"I'm home," she called quietly.

Tsubaki stepped out of her room to greet her.

"I'm going out for dinner tonight, there's stuff for dinner in the kitchen," Kikyou informed her as she walked across the room into her bathroom.

Tsubaki nodded and sat down in one of the large living room chairs, watching as Kikyou prepared to leave.

Once she had finally left, Tsubaki ventured back into her room, changed into a slim pair of black pants, a long-sleeved black shirt, and tied her hair back.

After fixing a quick dinner, she tucked the legs of her pants into black boots, and pulled on leather gloves. She walked out to her car and started out for the museum.

Parking in a parking lot about three blocks down the road, she took the back way to the museum, so she wouldn't be seen.

The back door was ajar, confirming her suspicions that one or both of the men she expected would be inside. She slipped inside, noticing that the security was disabled.

"Renkotsu…he's here…he's too good with computers, that one…"

She heard footsteps, flattening herself against an unlit wall and watching as a darkened figure walked by, then stopped to look.

"Hello Tsubaki. I'm so glad to see you came," Naraku said pleasantly.

"Shouldn't you be focusing less on me and more on getting the diamond?" she snapped quietly.

"The same could be said for you."

Then, in a quick motion, Tsubaki was on the floor, glass shattering under her. Blood ran down her face in a jagged line where the glass had cut just above her right eye. She got back up.

"You bastard!" she snapped, but he had already gone.

She stalked away in the opposite direction Naraku went, and finally made it to the large dome-shaped room where someone else was already standing. And she saw another person come in through the opposite door.

All three of them met at the middle.

Naraku laughed. "I have the Diamond, if you're curious as to where it is. But you remember our discussion. One of us has got to go. Now, who dies?"

There was a gun in his hand. He took turns pointing it at both of them, and then smirked.

Renkotsu hadn't spoken since he had seen the others arrive.

"Who cares who you kill? You'll get arrested anyway," he said calmly.

Naraku finally held the gun out with a finality that said he had made his choice. It rested gently between Renkotsu's eyes.

"Made your choice, then Naraku?" Tsubaki asked, stepping back a few steps to disappear into shadow.

There was a dead standstill. Neither Naraku nor Renkotsu seemed to be moving, or even breathing. The spotlight that was on over the pedestal of the Shikon Diamond lit them; they looked like an exhibit in themselves.

Tsubaki slowly and quietly drew her gun. It was fully loaded and she was ready to shoot at the first sign of movement.

Naraku's finger tightened on the trigger and Tsubaki glared.

'_Don't shoot…'_ she thought. But he was going to. So she aimed, and pulled the trigger.

An ear-splitting scream shattered the darkness; the gun went off with a crack as it hit the floor and Naraku held his bloodstained hand, looking at it with wide eyes. A good portion of his index finger had been shot off.

Tsubaki walked back into the circle of light and smirked.

"You didn't actually think I'd stand by and let you kill him, did you?" she asked arrogantly.

He shook in a mixture of shock and fury.

"He's mine for the taking, Naraku…"

She fired another shot, hoping it was a clean one, and judging by the cry of anger that was cut short and the heavy thud, it was.

Renkotsu stared at the woman. "Are you going to shoot me, Tsubaki?" he asked calmly.

She looked at the dead body of Naraku; the bullet had gone straight through his heart. His long dark hair was splayed out under him and his face was stark white, his red eyes staring up with an expression of shock on his face.

Tsubaki smirked. "Am I going to shoot you?" she repeated slowly.

"That's what I said, wasn't it?" he asked.

Sirens blared in the distance; the police were coming to the scene. Someone must have heard them. Tsubaki looked around; the Shikon Diamond had rolled out of Naraku's hand and was laying a couple of feet away.

"No. I'm not going to shoot you," she said, dropping her gun carelessly. "And I'm not going to get out of your life, either."

He glared. Then he went to pick up the diamond. She held him back. "Leave it; it'll look like Naraku was the only one involved. I'll tell the cops I killed him in self-defense."

"How will we explain why we're here?" he asked, looking a bit miffed at being bossed around.

"We won't lie. But Naraku got there first, then tried to attack us. And we killed him. Simple as that, isn't it?"

He nodded and they walked away from the scene, the blood on the bottom of their shoes leaving tracks that appeared black in the dim light that the room provided.

The police greeted them. They gave Tsubaki a blanket to wrap around her shoulders and she told them the whole story. They went inside, and returned a few minutes later carrying a black body bag between the both of them.

The rain was falling heavily, and Kikyou was there, staring up at the museum.

The paramedics were the last on the scene; they cleaned up Tsubaki's eye and wrapped it in gauze.

A policeman walked over to Kikyou, who looked shaken and disturbed, and dropped something in her hand. "We recovered this from Naraku's body," he told her.

She nodded wordlessly and then walked over to Tsubaki. "You shot Naraku…" she said coldly.

"He tried to kill me, and Renkotsu."

Kikyou nodded. "Thank you," she said finally, after a moment of silent debate.

"What?"

"For not taking it when you had the chance. It was big of you," she explained in a distant voice.

Tsubaki nodded. "You're welcome."

* * *

After a week, Tsubaki's eye had nearly healed. Kikyou sent the Shikon Diamond to another museum in the next town over and sold her own museum to someone else. She eventually moved in with Suikotsu and they started an orphanage. 

Tsubaki and Renkotsu decided to stay in the town, because they really had nowhere else to go. They ended up sharing an apartment, and (despite both viciously denying it) liked each other well enough.

* * *

The Shikon Diamond, however, was not as fortunate. 

A white-haired boy named Inuyasha attempted to steal it, only to be found by the curator of the museum. She didn't call the police on him, but he was forever at her mercy.

They began dating shortly afterward..

* * *

Naraku's family was overjoyed to hear of his demise, particularly Kagura. 

And, well, I suppose you could say that everyone was happy. Even if Renkotsu was convinced he was going to be shot at any moment, and Tsubaki spent hours on her makeup to 'hide this awful scar'.

She was generally told to deal with it, she could have been blinded, but it didn't go down that far.

**_Fin_**

* * *

I wanted to end on a…happy note. So I did. 


End file.
